PITTWIRE - Pitt’s new provost and senior vice chancellor, ANN E. CUDD (A&S ’84G, ’86G, ’88G) has explored topics including capitalism, feminism, inequality and oppression in more than 50 books, articles and chapters. “Ann has a rare capacity to move among the roles of scholar, leader, collaborator and teacher with exceptional ease and remarkable impact. But, what has impressed me most about Ann, so far, is her vision for Pitt. It is bold, bright,...

INSIDE HIGHER ED - After an extensive and thoughtful review process, the University of Pittsburgh Board of Trustees moved unanimously on June 29 to end a racially painful chapter on its campus, voting to remove Thomas Parran Jr.’s name from the main building housing the Graduate School of Public Health.

PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER - The emphasis on screening women for osteoporosis has fostered a sexist view of the bone-weakening disease. That’s harmful to men, whose bones also weaken with age. Men are twice as likely to die within a year of breaking a hip. In a journal editorial accompanying the guidelines, EPI's JANE CAULEY, said screening men is justified and should target those 70 and older “who have a high probability of fracture.”

US NEWS - Death certificates that did not specify the drugs involved in fatal overdoses may have masked more than 70K opioid-related deaths across the U.S. from 1999 to 2015. "Coroners... do not necessarily have medical training useful for completing drug information for death certificates based on toxicology reports," says BIOS' JEANINE BUCHANICH . DEAN BURKE and LAURAN BALMERT (BIOS ’17) coauthored the study.

MIT NEWS - The stretchiness that allows living tissues to expand, contract, stretch, and bend throughout a lifetime is the result of a protein molecule called tropoelastin. HUGEN's ZSOLT URBAN, says “elastin is necessary for the proper working of stretchy organs such as blood vessels, heart valves, and lungs. However, the full structure of tropoelastin was unknown until now."

PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE - Twelve years after the first vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV) was licensed for use, many young people still have not had the vaccine that is proven to prevent certain types of cancer. HPV vaccination rates for girls and boys in the Pittsburgh area are still far below the Healthy People 2020 goal of 80 percent, although they are improving, according to BCHS's LINDA ROBERTSON.

"To name a permanent University asset, such as a building, for a person on an honorific basis is intended to be one of the highest, most visible, and permanent recognitions the University can bestow. It is appropriate to revoke this naming decision and to remove any perception of celebrating a name associated with these unfortunate human trials," Gallagher wrote in a memorandum to the Board of Trustees recommending that they remove the name of...

In Sen Toomey's weekly e-newsletter, he announces that the Senate Finance Committee adopted his amendment, the Encouraging Appropriate Prescribing for Victims of Overdose in Medicare Act, to require Medicare to notify a doctor if their patient has suffered a non-fatal opioid overdose. Toomey references a study by experts including JULIE DONOHUE, HPM professor, in his discussion about the need to inform doctors of patient overdoses.

PITTWIRE - Pitt is taking a leading role in tackling the public health crisis by strengthening its prevention, treatment and recovery programs to bring meaningful change to the lives of students. "While opioid abuse is lower on university campuses, we can't be complacent," said Chancellor Patrick Gallagher. Pitt Public Health was represented on the task by BRADY BUSHOVER (EPI '18) and project coordinator MICHAEL MALLON (BCHS '13).

ASPPH FRIDAY LETTER - Postmenopausal factors may have an impact on the heart-protective qualities of high-density lipoproteins (HDL) – also known as ‘good cholesterol.' “The results of our study are particularly interesting to both the public and clinicians because total HDL cholesterol is still used to predict cardiovascular disease risk,” said lead author and EPI's, SAMAR EL KHOUDARY (EPI '08).

FORBES - A new study shows that the combination of opioids with benzodiazepines is especially risky in the first 90 days of concurrent use. "These findings demonstrate that fragmented care plays a role in the inappropriate use of opioids, and having multiple prescribers who are not in communication increases the risk for overdose," HPM's YUTING ZHANG told Forbes about a study also featuring INMACULADA HERNANDEZ (HPM '16) as first author.

PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE - The task force, which includes officials and students, including BRADY BUSHOVER (EPI '18) and MICHAEL MALLON (BCHS '13), has recommended that the school mobilize its research and treatment resources to fight addiction through initiatives ranging from partnerships with local medical centers to an on-campus space devoted to student recovery.

PITT WIRE - The National Security Education Program has recognized 8 Pitt students with Boren Awards. Doctoral student, SARA BAUMANN (BCHS '19), received a Boren Fellowship for study of the Nepali language at Cornell University for summer 2018 to support her work in community-based participatory research using Collaborative Filmmaking to further examine menstrual practices in Nepal this fall.

One Pitt Public Health student has been selected as a 2018-19 Pittsburgh Schweitzer Fellow. JOHN CORDIER (HPM '18) aims to address health and education gaps faced by youth in urban schools by working with high-school students during after-school programs. He leads health clubs to address health issues and empower the students to be leaders in addressing community health issues.

PUBLIC LIBRARY OF SCIENCE - Magalhaes, Braga, Cordeiro, Oliveira, Castanha, Maciel, Amancio, Gouveia, Peixoto-deSilva Jr., Peixoto, Britto, Lima, Lima, and Marques detected the tail end of a Zika epidemic in 2015-16 which was displaced by a chikungunya epidemic. Few dengue cases were identified despite a high number of official dengue notifications in the area during this period. Here they show the important epidemiological features of these cas...

On Sunday, April 29, Pitt Public Health welcomed over 200 graduates into the school's alumni community at our annual Convocation. “Our alumni cohort is now 7,000 people deep, since the school’s founding 70 years ago. Our impressive alumni give the school an international network of influence and the ability to impact a huge spectrum of public health issues,” said Senior Associate Dean ELEANOR FEINGOLD.

WIKITRIBUNE - The White House released a rough plan to rein in drug prices that included price transparency. The argument is that drug companies might shy away from raising prices if they knew the public was watching. "Just notifying us whether there’s a price increase, that’s not really going to have any effect,” says HPM's WALID GELLAD. “Many of these state laws also have very low fines if they don’t report this data.”

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YNGBLKPGH. What does Pittsburgh mean to 140 young black professionals?

PITTWIRE - Pitt alum Brian Burley (BUS ’13G) continues to highlight young black leaders and create community ties through his www.YngBlkPgh.com site. This social enterprise started with his book “YNGBLKPGH” (Young Black Pittsburgh) which features more than 140 African-American professionals und... (07/23/2018)

PITTWIRE - Doctoral alumna CHELSEA PALLATINO (BCHS ’17) has been awarded the Steven D. Manners Faculty Development Award by the University Center for Social and Urban Research to support her pilot research project entitled “Co-occurring Intimate Partner Violence and Substance Use: Understanding B... (07/19/2018)

Innovation Institute recognized at Deshpande Symposium on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education

PITTWIRE - The University of Pittsburgh Innovation Institute was recognized for its commitment to building programs that accelerate innovations from the laboratory and research into commercialization at the recent Deshpande Symposium on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education. Alumni EVA... (07/02/2018)

ASPPH FRIDAY LETTER - Several states are likely dramatically underestimating the effect of opioid-related deaths because of incomplete death certificate reporting, with Pennsylvania leading the pack, according to a new analysis by Pitt Public Health. “Proper allocation of resources for the opioid e... (07/19/2018)

Pittsburgh finds overdose risk quintuples with opioid and Benzodiazepine use

ASPPH FRIDAY LETTER - In the first 90 days of concurrent opioid and benzodiazepine use, the risk of opioid-related overdose increases five-fold compared to opioid-only use among Medicare recipients. "Having multiple prescribers who are not in communication increases the risk for overdose,” says HPM... (07/02/2018)

Pitt Public Health finds ‘good cholesterol’ may not always be good for postmenopausal women

ASPPH FRIDAY LETTER - Postmenopausal factors may have an impact on the heart-protective qualities of high-density lipoproteins (HDL) – also known as ‘good cholesterol.' “The results of our study are particularly interesting to both the public and clinicians because total HDL cholesterol is still us... (06/25/2018)